When I sell poppies on Battle of Britain day young people want to know what it is all about. I say if it hadn't been for those people who gave their lives, or their limbs and eyesight, we would have been a German colony and we would not have the freedoms we have today. I am a great believer in giving credit where credit is due.

Q: But America also played a big role in World War Two.

A: Yes but don't forget Bermuda was bargained for from the point of view of establishing bases here, not to protect Bermuda, but to protect the Eastern seaboard of the United States. We shouldn't forget that because today when they are being so niggardly about cleaning up the mess they left behind we shouldn't just remember they helped win the war. They also helped protect their seaboard. They didn't have bombs falling on them. For a while Britain stood alone in World War Two.

Q: I accept the role Britain played in the war but that's not an argument for 60 years later it still controlling an Island 4,000 miles away? A: Sometimes Britain says yes or no but very seldom do they say no. Right from early times they didn't wait until they got a reply from Britain, they became operative right away. I can't think of any laws which were later turned down by the Monarch. We have been encouraged to be self governing. We were never a crown colony which means it is administered from London. This is a colony that was settled, not gained from the spoils of war.

Q: That being the case, and following your point that Britain very rarely intervenes in decision making, if Bermuda was made independent what would you lose? A: If it went independent, and I am sure it's the aim of the current Government to make it independent as soon as possible, we would lose out in many ways. First of all, economically we would be very much worse off.

Secondly, many of our laws would be changed. They are playing around with our Constitution now. That leads on to a dictatorship, you have someone in power who wants to dictate.

Q: They are changing the Constitution but Britain hasn't objected to the way it's being done so why do you say it's like a dictatorship? A: It's a great disappointment to me that Britain has always said that whether we became independent was entirely up to us. I don't think (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair cares two hoots whether we become independent or not.

That's disappointing to me because I have always felt that Britain thought of us as her oldest child and protected us. As we went around the world we always had a British passport. I know recently that has been different, but if you had problems you would go to a British embassy and your problems were solved.

You had the protection of Britain as a mother country -- all that would go.

Q: But at the moment Bermudians are in a false position because their passport isn't a British passport, which means they need visas in places they previously didn't.

A: And that was a backwards step. I understand why Britain did it because there were masses of people from Asia and Africa who wanted to flood Britain.

And after all, Britain is only a small island too, not as small as Bermuda, but they could not have accommodated the influx of people who had started to come in.

Q: I am not sure that's the case. In the last 20 years I think there has been more emigration from Britain than immigration. Where is the evidence to say that Britain was going to be flooded with immigrants? A: Well Hong Kong alone -- when it was handed back to China, England felt she had to protect herself from an immigration point of view.

Q: You were talking about Britain's democratic influence but isn't one of the main tenants of democracy is that decisions are taken locally? A: Well as long as we are a colony we have to have the backing of the crown.

Q: Trevor Moniz makes a practical case for the retention of the link with Britain. You are a Royalist. Isn't your view an emotional one? A: What's wrong with emotion? This question always comes up when we talk about independence. The other day the local people were saying that when it came to independence they would let their emotions be seen, well I think their emotions are seen anyway. If your emotions are not unreasonable I don't see what's wrong. We have emotions as far as our personal families go that doesn't make our decisions right or wrong just on the basis we have an emotional tie towards them. We still say no when we have to say no to our children and our adult children. So why are we so afraid of a little emotion? I don't consider my reluctance to have independence as entirely emotional. Sure there's emotion, there's loyalty in there. There's the entirely practical argument that we have a very sound economy brought about by the very careful work of the statesmen we had 20, 30, 40 years ago. I don't see any statesmen on the horizon at the moment. People today should appreciate that, not decry these people and talk about the 40 thieves on Front Street. That saying came about during the war. I think it was (Nazi propagandist) Lord Haw Haw who referred to Sir Howard Trott and his 40 thieves. This isn't an old saying at all. I don't think many people remember how it came about. Don't forget the improved economy isn't just enjoyed by the white people, it's enjoyed by everybody. It trickles down and I think if we don't have the foundations we have our economy would very quickly go back down.

Q: Why do you say that because Britain has a hands-off approach Bermuda is wealthier than Britain. There's no aid from Britain, nor is there any need for it. What does Bermuda gain at this point from Britain? A: Well we still have the benefit of the Privy Council. Just as tourism has gone back so dreadfully so could other aspects of the economy as drastically.

The international companies set great store about the fact that Bermuda has the Privy Council to fall back on in decisions. The West Indian islands now are trying to have a corporate Privy Council.

Don't forget an awful lot of British capital was ploughed into Bermuda around the start of the 20th century such as from Cable and Wireless.

The installation of the cable was a tremendous breakthrough. Recently you hear a lot of talk about how Cable and Wireless have made a lot of money out of Bermuda but Cable and Wireless have provided facilities which have made a great deal of money for Bermuda.

Q: Would you accept independence is inevitable? The UPB tried to get it and the PLP seem to have it on the agenda for the next election. Is it only a matter of time? A: Maybe it is only a matter of time, but I would never use the phrase it's inevitable. Taxes and death are the only inevitable things in life.

Q: If it is only a matter of time what are your thoughts on that? A: My thoughts are that I am very glad that I may not be here to see it.

(laughter). You can call that emotional if you like but it is deep down in my being.

Q: Would you move to Britain? A: I don't think I would move anywhere. I am Bermudian and it is my home.

Everything I have is here. It would be heartbreaking. I love Bermuda. It's home. I would still have my Union Jack in my bedroom. It's a flag of great significance and why anybody wants to haul it down? We are almost an extension of Britain but there are those who want to wipe it all out and that to me is criminal. We have to look to the future because there is nowhere else to go.

But if we don't base our future and even our present on the past we are without roots. Nothing without roots can prosper. For those people who want to dispute this and wipe out the past there is no future if we do that.